Structural Reform of the WTO

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Structural Reform of the WTO

• Thomas Cottier
• Third Singapore-WTO Policy Dialogue on the World
  Trading System for Senior Government Officials
  from Asia and THE Pacific
•  
• "The WTO 20 Years and Beyond"
• October 19/20, 2015

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The Common Law of International Trade

• RTAs all structured on the basis of WTO law
  disciplines
• Shared values and principles
• Core legal concepts of tariffs, QRs,
  non-discrimination (national treatment) and
  exceptions
• Structure of agreements follow WTO law
• WTO-plus and sometimes WTO-minus
• Complementary functions of WTO and PTAs
• Multilateralization of main plurilateral PTAs in
  the dialectical process in coming decades

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Future Negotiations

• Due to decline of MFN, market access negotiations
  will continue to take place in preferential fora
  and settings
• WTO Members need to focus on USPs of
  multilateralism and related Organisations
• Multilateral Know-how and expertise of the WTO
• Trade Community in Geneva and NGOs
• NTB areas with de jure and de facto MFN and
  spill-over effects
• Conditions of competition (subsidies, IPRs,
  competition policy, investment, labour standards)
  
• Technical regulations, food standards, domestic
  regulation of services

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Farewell to Trade Rounds

• With market access (tariffs, QRs) and services
  dealt with mainly preferentially, the rationale
  for trade rounds no longer exist
• Instead Sectorial negotiations and on-going
  quasi legislative processes (building upon past
  experience Financial Services, Telecom, GPA,
  Access to Essential Drugs)
• Integrated approach based upon global value chain
  analysis covering goods, services, investment,
  competition, government procurement
• Built in graduation on basis of economic factors,
  in particular for LLDCs

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Potential Sectors

• Energy
• Agreement on Electricity (towards a global grid)
  
• Agreement on Fossil Fuels
• Agreement on Extracted Minerals
• Agreement on Specific Services, e.g
• Civil Aviation
• Maritime Transports
• Disciplines on Economic Migration
• Need to develop close working relationship with
  specialised international organizations

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Horizontal Issues

• Trade Remedies for Goods and Services (unfair
  competition approach) for dumping and
  subsidization
• Trade and Investment
• Trade and Competition Policy (Anti-trust)
• IPRs Ceilings, Traditional Knowledge and CSR
• Trade and Human Rights (labour standards)
• Structural and Institutional Issues

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Structural Issues

• Within the flexible framework of WTO, what
  practices and structural reforms are needed to
  comply with the future tasks outlined ?
• Negotiations and Cooperation with IOs
• Monitoring and Dispute Settlement

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Modifying Consensus Diplomacy

• The shift to PTAs is partly caused by rigidity
  within WTO talks
• Return to WTO talks requires more flexible
  attitudes
• Diplomacy should adopt consensus-minus as
  established under DSU and/or weighted voting
• Formally blocking consensus should be subject to
  vital interests, reasoned statements and need to
  confirmation upon cooling-off

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Monitoring Existing Agreements

• The evolution of the common law of international
  trade calls for stronger institutions beyond
  dispute settlement
• Proactive role of the WTO Secretariat in
  monitoring existing agreements
• TPRM (review frequency of reviews)
• Dispute Settlement
• A voice for the Secretariat and enhanced
  transparency
• Guardian of the system right to lodge
  consultations and complaints against failing
  members
• Professional panel chairs and enhanced career
  options of staff within dispute settlement system
  

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Towards a World Trade Court

• From Fragmentation to Coherence
• Art. 3.2 DSU and the status of non-WTO law in
  dispute settlement
• The status of dispute settlement in Preferential
  Trade Agreements
• Expanding the jurisdiction of the WTO to
  Preferential Trade Agreements
• Institutional implications and cost structures

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Conclusions

• Focus on sectorial negotiations, graduation,
  plurilateral agreements and critical mass
  approach for MFN based rules
• Expand cooperation with other International
  Organizations
• Qualified consensus in negotiations
• Need to strengthen central institutions, in
  particular WTO dispute settlement extending
  jurisdiction to RTAs

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• Thank you for your attention
• thomas.cottier_at_wti.org
• The Common Law of International Trade and the
  Future of the WTO, 18 Journal of International
  Economic Law 3-20 (2015)